INTERVIEW FOR TNT ZINE 2001

Will you give a brief history of the band? How did you get together?

Jani: We started talking about this kind of band with Antti seriously in the summer of ’98. Actually it was when we were on tour with the hardcore band Sharpeville and our van had burned after 2 gigs! So we had no hurry to the next place, we sat upstairs of this squat, drank beer and talked about stuff then we decided we should really try this! We had known for many years and also played in same bands before… in the fall the time was right for the first practice.

Can you describe your first practise as a band?

Jani: Oh yeah! The first song we ever played together was "Real World" by Husker Du, who else cos ever since we’ve been compared to them a zillion times, maybe deservedly then…! Anyway, we started playing the song and after a few seconds all i could do was smile and rock! Everything went so perfectly… you know we had been a bit nervous – me and Antti originally asked Jukka to play bass but he wanted to play drums and we let him although we didn’t know if he could really play! But he could indeed! So we started writing our own songs right away and here we are!

What releases do you have out? When did "Desire" come out?

Jani: We strarted out with 2 songs on "A Farewell To Arms" benefit compilation CD that came out in Feb’99… it also featured the most popular Finnish bands such as Endstand, Wasted, Juggling Jugulars, Sharpeville… so we were lucky, the whole scene in Finland heard us immediately and i guess some even liked us! Soon after that we recorded a 7" that we released ourselves in May ’99, and i guess it caught many people’s attetion cos when we did the LP/CD, many people and labels wanted to be involved… it was released in co-operation with the Belgian Nabate in August’00 and in April’01 the CD was re-released by us and Boss Tuneage from England.

How did you hook up with Aston & Boss Tuneage?

Jani: When the 7"came out we traded some copies and he liked it, then then "Desire" came out he wanted to distribute it as well… then he started writing he wants to release a CDep or something by us but at first it felt the time is not right, we wanted to save all our new songs for the next LP… but then we couldn’t afford to repress "Desire" for our European tour ourselves! So we asked if he wants to get involved and he did, and it worked out great, it’s been really easy to do stuff and find agreement with him!

What's it like to write & sing lyrics in English, how hard is that to do?

Jani: Actually it’s far easier for us than Finnish would be! Jukka writes the lyrics, he knows the language really well and that’s what he wants to do, he doesn’t play any instrument besides the drums but he really enjoys writing. Finnish is great for many styles of music but i think English really suits our style the best… Jukka is also the language police at practice! It’s horrible when many Finnish bands sing in English although they really can’t pronounce their lyrics, that’s the worst!

What has been the best show you have ever witnessed?

Jani: I’d say Fugazi in Tampere, Finland back in ’95 maybe… some other great ones would be Endstand at the 1in12 Festival in Bradford, England ’99, Lvmen in Tampere, Finland ’01, Bluetip in Riesa, Germany ’01…

What has been the best show you've played at?

Jani: This one is just too difficult, and also unfair in a way… but all our gigs in Roznow, Czech and Liege, Belgium have been very memorable and also ones in A Guardia, Spain and 1in12, England, Lublin in Poland, our first ever gig in Helsinki, Finland… this list could become very long actually!

Would Motorhead & Leatherface be bands you looked up to at all in the past?

Jani: Well i wouldn’t say that… when i still looked up at bands i was listening to hair metal, if you know what i mean! But sure we’ve all listened to those bands although i think Jukka is the only one of us who likes Motorhead, but Jukka doesn’t write any music and if you read our lyrics, i don’t think Lemmy has influenced them either! But Leatherface, sure we have to admit to be a bit influenced… But if you really wanna start talking about good bands i could mention the great Finnish group Agents and Torches To Rome plus Bread & Circuits from the US!

Have you toured Europe at all? Have you been to England or anywhere else?

Jani: Yeah i think we’ve done quite a lot touring, considering how young we still are as a band. We’ve done 4 european tours and have the 2 next ones booked already for the fall… we’ve played way more shows in other countries than in Finland! Cos here the scene is so small, you can’t play too much cos everyone including ourselves would just get bored… we’ve played in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, England, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech, Poland and Lithuania. I think.


What have you got coming out in the near future?

Jani: A split 7" with a japanese band called I Excuse, on the japanese Snuffy Smile label. I Excuse is a great band, very powerful, even more Leatherface than us but with an original japanese touch! At the same time as the split we also recorded a version of Born Against’s "Shroud" for a compilation 7" by a new label from Finland, Passing Bells, and it just came out this week, a great compilation with the best new finnish bands right now, like Wasted and Hero Dishonest.

Next we’ll do an LP again but that’ll still take some time although most of the music is already written… it’ll be co-released by many labels from Europe, Japan and Northern America.

When I think of Finland I think of ice & snow? What is really like?

Jani: Well… ice and snow actually! But there are no polarbears or penguins walking the streets or anything like that… yeah most of the time it’s really cold, during the winter the sun is not up for too long so it’s also quite dark. But the short summer is very beautiful and makes people more alive, there are big festivals every weekend and stuff like that. Many people say Finnish people are very quiet and reserved towards people they don’t know before, well that’s true, i am that way too! We don’t necessarily mean anything bad, quite the opposite, that’s just how we are! We like to drink a lot, that’s true! Need something to keep us warm you know… what else is there? Life in general is pretty easy, no bad stress about any basic things or necessities, unfortunately i can’t say the system works very well but it could also be a lot worse. Although thing are going to the wrong direction all the time, the American way is taking over…

What do you do when you're not rocking & rolling?

Jani: Oh we’re always rocking and rolling babe… i wish! Jukka works as an offset printer, Antti works at a construction site but only until our next tour in August. I do the label, Combat Rock Industry, that takes a lot of time… writing, doing the internet stuff, sending stuff out, doing distro at gigs, blah blah… but officially i’m unemployed. I like to play guitar, i only became a bass player at the first practice of this band! I like to read all kinds of things a lot, hang out with friends, play my jukebox (yeah i have one, the band name is no coinsidence!) and normal records too, cook and spend time with my girlfriend… hell, the usual stuff!

What city is pictured on your sleeve of "Desire"?

Jani: Hmm, that’s totally irrelevant… but the flames are taken from a picture of Gene Simmons breathing fire on stage!

Who is "Our New Lenin's directed particularly at?

Jani: Well it’s directed against all abuse of power. But right now i guess, thinking about the political situation and debate in Europe, it could be about the system called The European Union. It’s kinda becoming like the European United States and this whole pattern of this thinking, this neo-liberalistic dogma it represents, actually has many exactly same features as the former Soviet Union!

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